Thursday June 5, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
While at the gas station filling up her car’s tank, Parksville resident Lee Ann Nahanee discovered that she won a $1-million prize from the May 28, 2025 Lotto 6/49 draw.
“I was at a Shell gas station in Nanoose and the retailer checked the ticket,” recalled Nahanee of the moment she realized she won.
“She turned to me and said, ‘you just won one million dollars!’ I don’t even remember how I drove home; I was bawling. I kept saying ‘just get home, just get home,’”, as reported by BC Lottery Corporation in a news release today.
The winning ticket was purchased at Temple Food Store on Highway Island West in Parksville.
Sharing her excitement:
Nahanee was most excited to share the news with her closest friends who she describes as her “second family” saying they were happy for her. They all went out for breakfast to celebrate. She told BCLC that she planned to “play couch potato with the biggest pizza [she] could get.”
Plans for the funds:
The winner says she plans to invest for a comfortable retirement and buy a new car.
Thoughts on lottery wins:
There was a time not too long ago that winning one million dollars would set a person on a whole new trajectory in life. Now a win of that size is about planning for retirement, a downpayment or (nearly) a purchase of a new home, or other life basics.
In recent years there seems to be less expression of flagrant use of large winnings, because frankly the value of large winnings does not stretch so far anymore and/or because the winners have a broader view of how more people can share in the win (e.g. the recent $80 million LottoMax winner who plans to use his funds to help support the Vancouver Filipino community and others in need).
Profits from the funds collected by BCLC through the sale of lottery tickets go to the provincial government for funding social services like health, education and community programs. That has broad impact.
To help out in the general community, BCLC might think of some new ways to spread more regularized financial wins of a modest nature (e.g. $25,000 or $50,000) to help more households restore some economic security in their daily lives. Offering these ‘small’ wins on a more frequent basis would probably increase ticket sales, so it would be a win-win.
6/49 winnings in 2025:
According to BCLC, so far in 2025 BC lottery players have redeemed more than $27 million in winnings from Lotto 6/49.
Lotto 6/49 is a nationwide lottery game drawn on Wednesdays and Saturdays after 7:30 p.m. (PST). The Gold Ball Draw is a guaranteed prize draw where players will win either the Guaranteed Prize of $1 million, or the growing Gold Ball Jackpot that starts at $10 million. The Classic Jackpot offers a prize that is always $5 million.
Players can visit PlayNow.com to learn how to set time and money limits. For more information on tools and resources to encourage healthy play, visit GameSense.com.
===== RELATED:
- $40 million Lotto Max winner is out there (May 24, 2025)
- $80 million lottery winner revealed in Vancouver today (May 15, 2025)
- 6/49 jackpot at record high (September 22, 2023)
- NEWS SECTIONS: LOTTERIES & GAMBLING